User blog:Rtv9500/MyChallenge XXIII: Vendettas
Twenty-eight players from The Real World, Road Rules, Are You The One? and other programming will travel to the land down under to pursue their personal vendettas against one another. And this season, for the very first time, every player is out solely for themselves not their team. Only one winner will come out on top, competing to win the final prize that has the potential to exceed $500,000. Each player will play in multiple challenges followed by elimination rounds known as "The Ring". The eliminations will alternate between male, female, or genderless elimination weeks. The winning players of each challenge will split $25,000 to their personal bank account. The overall top three players will be known as "The Troika" and will be safe from elimination. The last-place player of the designated gender will head straight to the Ring. The Troika will nominate three players as possible opponents to the last-place player. These players will be known as "The Inquisition". In the Ring, the Troika will decide who from the Inquisition will compete in the elimination. The winner(s) of the elimination round will stay in the game, and earn a "grenade". Grenades are punishments that can be granted to any player by the elimination winner. The loser of the elimination round will go home, and their bank total will be added to the final challenge total. Old rivalries will be renewed and new ones enflamed as these competitors battle it out. So who has what it takes to overcome all their vendettas and win the cash? Location: Hamilton Island, Australia and Gold Coast, Australia -> Kandy, Sri Lanka Cast || |} Note: Eight "mercenary" players were brought into the game to compete in The Ring as a season twist: Jeremy Blossom (RR: South Pacific), Michaela Bradshaw (Survivor: Millenials vs. Gen X), Robbie Padovano (RW: Bad Blood) and Veronica Portillo (RR: Semester At Sea) in episodes 7/8, while Darrell Taylor (RR: Campus Crawl), Melanie Velez (AYTO? - 3), Rachel Robinson (RR: Campus Crawl) and Theo Vonturnakowski (RR: Maximum Velocity Tour) competed in The Ring in Episode 11. a Derrick withdrew from the competition prior the "Who's Got Balls?" challenge in episode 2. His exit was not shown on-screen. b Prior to the "Puppet Master" challenge in episode 7, Amanda was medically removed from the competition, after she was diagnosed with bronchitis and deemed too sick to continue competing. c Alicia was forced to withdraw after dislocating her finger against Michaela in the "Crazy 8" elimination. d At the end of Episode 10, Melinda withdrew from the competition, following a bullying incident in which Britni, Jenna and Nany subjected her to a night of harassment which included throwing her belongings from a balcony at the house. e Chuck was forced to withdraw from the final challenge, after he suffered a severe ankle injury on the first stage. Pre-season Vendettas These vendettas are based on the canon seasons of The Real World, Are You The One?, The Challenge, Ex on the Beach USA and Big Brother and contains spoilers regarding future programming. While each cast member may have more than one vendetta with their fellow competitors, these histories are based on who their primary vendetta is: *''Adam vs. Leroy:'' The tension between Adam & Leroy developed during their original season on The Real World: Las Vegas (2011), when Leroy became disgusted by Adam's obnoxious behavior within their Hard Rock Hotel and Casino suite and the accompanying Vanity nightclub. Adam became even more disorderly when he got drunk, and Leroy made his feelings clear to the rest of the roommates, with Adam taking great offense to that. This tension culminated in a shoving match between Adam and Leroy one night in the suite, solidifying their enmity until Adam was evicted from the house. *''Alicia vs. Taylor :'' Alicia and Taylor's vendetta first formed on AYTO? - 5 when Taylor, along with Hannah Fugazzi and Tyranny Todd, made disparaging comments about Alicia over the fact that she slept with Eddie Williams the night before Eddie went to the honeymoon suite with his perfect match (and Alicia's best friend at the time) Kam Williams. The rivalry continued on Ex on the Beach USA when Taylor poisoned the house against Alicia prior to her arrival. After her arrival Alicia jumped into an argument Taylor was having with Cameron Kolbo and escalated the situation, reportedly threatening her with a knife. After security intervened and separated the two, Taylor spat on Alicia from a second story balcony. The two are still going at it on social media over their relationships with Cory Wharton, sealing their vendetta. *''Amanda vs. Camila:'' These two fiery competitors first ignited their vendetta on Rivals III when Camila tried to step into an argument Amanda was having with Tony Raines leading to a screaming match between the two that ended with Amanda palming Camila in the face. Their enmity continued on Invasion of the Champions when Camila once again attempted to intervene in a discussion Amanda was having, this time with Laurel Stucky regarding a prank. While nothing physical happened, Amanda and Camila traded insults back and forth and when it was addressed on the reunion, Camila attempted to stand up and get in Amanda's face resulting in Amanda palming Camila again. This vendetta would arguably reach it's peak on XXX: Dirty 30 when Camila behaved offensively towards Amanda after she lost her Redemption round against Jenna Compono, but Amanda was one of the cast members to put Camila on blast on social media after Camila's racist tirades on the show were exposed. *''Ammo vs. Jenna:'' Ammo and Jenna first met on RW: Go Big or Go Home where they bonded over shared experiences and upbringings and Ammo comforted Jenna over trouble back home. But as Jenna's prejudiced views over race and sexual orientation came to the surface, an angered Ammo took the drastic step of leaking what had happened in the house on the internet, which sent shockwaves to the outside world. This was the event that sealed their vendetta because afterwards Ammo and Jenna would alternate between constantly fighting and icy silence. Finally, when Jenna went home after a brawl with CeeJai Jenkins, Ammo stated on camera that he did not feel sorry for her whatsoever. *''Brad vs. Brandon:'' The conflict between Brad and Brandon occurred on Cutthroat when Brad and his then-wife Tori Hall became the ring leaders of the team that both Brad and Brandon were on. Brad and Tori used their pre-existing alliances as well as the structure of the rules in order to send Brandon and Camila Nakagawa (who were both rookies at the time) to the Gulag every single time they could until they were eliminated. Brandon saw this as a cowardly way to play the game, but went into the Gulag three times until he was eliminated in the sixth episode against Derrick Kosinski. *''Britni vs. Chuck:'' Britni and Chuck first met on AYTO? - 3 and there was instant chemistry between the two, although they were determined later on not to be a perfect match. Despite that, Britni and Chuck would remain an item for over two years. However once Britni left for Colombia to compete in XXX: Dirty 30, Chuck cheated on Britni with other women and the two broke up. That combined with rumors of money management issues on Chuck's part and Britni's quick rebound with Brad Fiorenza on Vendettas, their vendetta lingers. *''Charles vs. Tor'i:'' While the vendetta between Charles and Tor'i never escalated to the point that other vendettas did, there is still some animosity that lingers. On Ex On The Beach USA, a cool kids clique formed called "The Royals" with it's membership consisting of Angela Babicz, Cory Wharton, Paulie Calafiore, Taylor Selfridge, Tor'i, and Victoria Alario. Charles, alongside the majority of the house, stood outside of that clique and he and Tor'i just never got along while they were both in the house. *''Cody vs. Josh:'' The vendetta between Cody and Josh first started when they both went into the Big Brother 19 house. During the first week, when Cody was Head of Household Josh was incredibly unpopular amongst his housemates and Cody and his then-showmance Jessica Graf went after Josh mercilessly both on a game level and on a personal level. A couple of weeks later, the shoe was on the other foot when Josh became part of the superalliance assembled by Paul Abrahamian and Cody and Jessica became the house pariahs and Josh took his revenge in the form of psychological warfare that some might argue constituted bullying. Still, Cody grudgingly gave Josh his jury vote to win the game only because Paul didn't own his game. But it ultimately was the one vote Josh needed to win. This vendetta is most certainly a fiery one that can be lit on a dime. *''Danny vs. Melinda:'' Danny and Melinda first met in 2005 on RW: Austin where they became a couple and eventually got married, settling down in Danny's hometown of Boston. Where this vendetta starts to heat up is that when Melinda participated in Cutthroat in 2010, she revealed that she and Danny had divorced and during Battle of the Seasons (2012), Danny and Melinda were on the same team but got sent home in the second episode, before any drama was established but the awkwardness and tension was still there. In a BrainCandy podcast interview done years later, Melinda revealed that the relationship ended because Danny had jealousy and paranoia issues even though he cheated on her and tried to get her pregnant without her consent. *''Derrick vs. Wes:'' This vendetta formed because both Derrick and Wes are big players in The Challenge orbit but have consistently been on opposing sides of alliances. In addition, Wes has gone out of his way to broadcast his disdain for Derrick via social media. This culminated after Episode 8 of Vendettas aired when Derrick appeared as a mercenary and eliminated Joss Mooney from the competition after an epic physical elimination. Being fed up with Derrick continually gloating about it, Wes tweeted that he was offered the opportunity to appear as a mercenary first but had to turn it down due to work obligations and twisted the knife by pointing out that Derrick did not best Joss but it was rather that Joss made a mental mistake that allowed Derrick to win the elimination. This did not go down well on Derrick's end and this vendetta continues. *''Kailah vs. Kayleigh:'' The vendetta between Kailah and Kayleigh seemingly exploded like dynamite on Vendettas but the reality of it is murkier. Kailah alleges that Kayleigh was attempting to play multiple sides of the house and tried to throw Kailah under the bus to Nicole Zanatta, Tony Raines and Zach Nichols which infuriated Kailah alongside hooking up with Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio while Johnny was still with Natalie Negrotti. In the end, Kailah, Britni Thorton and Jemmye Carroll threw Kayleigh's mattress and belongings over the ledge into the living room which Kayleigh claimed was bullying behavior and led to Kayleigh quitting the game in Episode 10. At the Vendettas reunion, Kayleigh got into it with everyone on the cast, especially Kailah, Jemmye, Nelson Thomas and Devin Walker-Molaghan. This vendetta is still going strong, with Kailah and Kayleigh going at it frequently on social media. *''Nany vs. Theresa:'' Nany and Theresa ironically enough were close friends before, especially during Free Agents where they were consistent allies. Their vendetta started on Battle of the Exes II, where Nany and Theresa were paired with rivals Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio and Wes Bergmann, respectively. That, combined with the fact that Theresa was not only taking a more ruthless approach to the game but was disparaging Nany behind her back, signalled the end of a friendship and the beginning of a vendetta. In Episode 5, Wes and Theresa took the opportunity to make a move and threw Bananas and Nany into elimination, sending them both to Ex-ile. However when Bananas and Nany came back they returned the favor, this time sending Wes and Theresa home. But when Nia Moore was disqualified for sexually inappropriate behavior, Theresa got a chance to come back but had to face off against Nany one last time for a chance at the final. Theresa won that round, but this challenge wipes the slate clean for now. *''Nia vs. Sarah:'' Nia and Sarah's vendetta stems from their time at the end of Battle of the Exes II. Nia and her partner Leroy Garrett came in last place in the final mission in Panama (automatically sending them into elimination), while Sarah and her partner Jordan Wiseley won the mission. Nia and Leroy expected Sarah and Jordan to send in Jay Gotti and Jenna Compono, the weakest team left who were dragged by the veteran teams to be used as a lay-up because it was against "the spirit of the game" for them not to. But Sarah and Jordan had other ideas and decided to send in their friends and allies Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio and Nany Gonzalez. All four players berated Sarah for their decision but after Bananas, Nia was the one who took it the worst. She not only personally criticized and insulted Sarah, she performed sexually inappropriate behavior against Jordan which disqualified her from the competition. At the reunion, while Nia apologized to Jordan she continued to berate and insult Sarah in nasty terms for her decision. *''Nicole vs. Shane:'' These two competitors stepped onto the beach on Invasion of the Champions ready to take The Challenge by storm: Nicole, as an ambitious rookie who wanted to make a splash on her first outing as a competitor and Shane, an OG veteran who wanted to make a Challenge comeback and re-establish himself. The vendetta between Nicole and Shane began when they found themselves in opposite alliances during the first guys vote off: Nicole aligned herself with the minority of Tony Raines, Cory Wharton, Kailah Casillas, and Jenna Compono and Shane found himself with the majority, bonding closely with Amanda Garcia, Ashley Mitchell and Sylvia Elsrode to form the Lavender Ladies. The real issue came up when their styles of play clashed with Nicole being loyal to her friends and allies, while Shane openly fessed up to playing a sneaky game, willing to make moves to benefit himself. On Vendettas, the two clashed again in Episode 7 when Nicole strong-armed the Troika into sending Shane into elimination (unknowingly sending him against the Mercenaries). This vendetta is far from over as Shane has made it very clear on social media that he does not like Nicole and it seems that the feeling is mutual. Game summary Elimination chart e In episode 3, Sarah suffered an accident at the house in which she lacerated her foot. Host T. J. Lavin delivered the news that Sarah was medically prohibited from competing in the "#Vendettas" challenge, due to the fact that it involved water. As a result, Sarah was automatically sent to "The Ring," instead of the last-place female. f In episode 4, the Ring was deemed genderless; however, as Alicia was named the last place competitor, it became a female elimination week. g In episode 6, Alicia and Amanda were deemed too sick to compete in the "Gasping for Air" challenge, but were safe due to the fact that it was a male elimination week. In addition, the grenade that Alicia earned as the result of winning in "The Ring" in the previous episode was a "dud." h Jeremy Blossom, Robbie Padovano, Michaela Bradshaw, and Veronica Portillo were brought in as Mercenaries to compete against Shane, Leroy, Alicia, and Camila, respectively. i In episode 11, the elimination between Chuck and the Mercenary, Theo, came to a draw after they reached the time limit. Thus Chuck was allowed back into the game, but was not rewarded a Grenade. Game Progress Bank Progress Note: Dollar amounts in italics indicate that contestant was eliminated with that amount, and lost it upon elimination. Additional Bank: $214,073 Teams || || |} || || |} |} Grenades Note: Alicia did not participate in the "Gasping for Air" challenge, therefore she was unable to use her grenade. Note: Because Chuck's round against Theo in the "Yankin' My Chain" elimination was a draw, Chuck was unable to receive a grenade. Category:Blog posts